The contemporary debate that discusses whether the content of perceptual experience is or not conceptual claims I. Kant as its precursor. Surprisingly, both contenders in this debate do so. The Kantian non conceptualists, R. Hanna and L. Allais, among others, have support their arguments on Kant´s insistence on clearly separating intuitions and concepts and the faculties that make them possible, sensibility and understanding in order to emphasize that, once divided according to their functions, it makes sense to think that experience (...) emerges from the collaboration between those two faculties. In this paper I want to make an argument in favor of the non-conceptualist interpretation of Kant. In a nutshell, my argument goes as follows: If, as the Kantian conceptualists say, concepts already operate in sensibility, why would it be necessary to postulate an independent device that helps close the bridge between sensibility and understanding? Why is there a need for schematism? I will defend the legitimacy of that tertium as a mediator element that resolves the problem of the subsumption of particulars under concepts, and with that I will make an argument for the separability between intuitions and concepts. (shrink)

Francisco Pereira, Ver o alucinar. Una mirada introductoria a la filosofía de la percepción, Gedisa, México, 2019, 295 pp.

En este artículo se discuten las críticas de Jesús Vega Encabo a los modelos de racionalidad práctica aplicados al conocimiento científico. Independientemente de la pertinencia de dichas críticas, en la medida en que la apuesta por ese modelo de racionalidad ha conducido a excesos reduccionistas en los que la ciencia es vista fundamentalmente como una empresa motivada por compromisos sociales, culturales, políticos, o económicos, puede afirmarse que las mismas están contaminadas por una confusión fundamental entre dos formas de concebir las (...) reglas que conducen la práctica científica, a saber, reglas constitutivas y reglas regulativas. A esta confusión estarán dirigidas sobre todo mis observaciones. In this paper I discuss the criticisms of Jesús Vega Encabo to the models of practical rationality applied to scientific knowledge. Regardless of the pertinence of such criticisms, a commitment to that model of rationality has led to reductionist excesses in which science is seen as an enterprise moved by social, cultural, political, or economics engagements. I consider that those criticisms are tainted by a fundamental confusion between two forms of conceiving the rules that govern the scientific practice, namely, constitutives rules and regulatives rules. My remarks are addressed to this confusion. (shrink)

La consecuencia más difundida de la revolución en la geometría del siglo XIX es aquella que afirma que después de dichos cambios ya nada quedaría de la vieja noción de espacio como "forma de la intuición sensible", ni de la geometría como "condición trascendental" de la posibilidad de la experiencia. Este artículo se ocupa del intento de Rudolf Carnap por articular una concepción del espacio intuitivo que, al tiempo que se mantiene dentro del paradigma kantiano se hace eco de algunos (...) resultados obtenidos en las ciencias formales, específicamente de la teoría de grupos en su aplicación a la geometría. Su concepción se encuentra antecedida por los esfuerzos de Helmholtz, Poincaré, Cassirer y Husserl. The most diffused consecuence of the revolution in the geometry of the XIX century is what claims that after this changes anything would remain of the old notion of space as "the form of the sensible intuition", neither of geometry like "transcendental condition" of the possibility of experience. This paper deal with the Rudolf Carnap's attempt to articulate a conception of the intuitve space that, at the time that it mantains within kantian paradigm, it echoes of some results obtained in the formal sciences, specifically of the theory of groups in its application to geometry. Its conception is preceded by the efforts of Helmholtz, Poincaré, Cassirer and Husserl. (shrink)

The contemporary interpretations on the a priori in the philosophy of science have been dominated mainly by a semantic and a pragmatic reading. Although the contribution of these conceptions has been valuable, it is my point of view that they have rejected without justification the fundamental meaning of the original Kantian notion, that is, the idea of the constitution of the experience. In this paper I intend to do two things: first, after a presentation of the argument between Friedman and (...) Richardson, both supporters of the semantic and pragmatic readings, I will show the historical reasons that one can use to reject the semantic interpretation of the a priori. Then, I will sketch a conception of the constitutive a priori which, tracking the proposals of philosophers of the 19th century, will insist on the idea that the experience is dominated by a formal function which consists in the production of “invariants”. (shrink)

En un pasaje famoso, Kant dijo que "los pensamientos sin contenido son vacíos, las intuiciones sin conceptos son ciegas", lo cual ha dado lugar -de la mano de filósofos y exégetas clásicos y contemporáneos como McDowell- a la idea de que los estados mentales que Kant denomina intuiciones poseen ya un contenido conceptual. En este artículo se propone una lectura que hace énfasis en la independencia o separabilidad de intuiciones y conceptos, y cómo las primeras constituyen un tipo de cognición (...) que, sin ser conceptual, es suficiente para la individuación de particulares. In a famous passage, Kant said that "the thoughts without content are empties, the intuitions without concepts are blind", which has given place, from the hand of classical and contemporaries philosophers and scholars, like McDowell, to the idea that the mental states which Kant calls intuitions have conceptual content. This article proposes a lecture that makes emphasis on independence or separability between intuitions and concepts, and how the firsts constitutes a kind of cognition that while is non-conceptual, is enough for the individuation of particulars. (shrink)

This paper considers the kantian statement that the natural science, the same as the mathematics, it contains synthetic a priori judgments as principles. However, a comparative study among the principles of both sciences, as well as of the foundations of their constitution, it throws the primary ..

In this paper, I will try to show that this is a completely misleading image of the logical empiricism. Through a detailed analysis of the “protocol sentences” debate happened at the beginning of the thirties, I will show that at least two of the most prominent members in the logical empiricism, ..

Las interpretaciones contemporáneas en torno a lo a priori en la filosofía de la ciencia han estado dominadas fundamentalmente por las concepciones semántica y pragmática. El aporte de estas concepciones ha sido significativo, pero han rechazado injustificadamente, a mi modo de ver, el sentido funda..

“Mathematics, synthetic unity and constitutive a priori”. Starting from the emphasis about the Kantian idea of the originary synthetic unity of apperception like the basic function on which rest the production of all synthetic judgment, in this paper I defend the idea of constitutive a priori of experience under the form of a similar synthetic principle but essentially formal, namely, the concept of transformation and group of transformations. To the same time, I try to show that Kant himself inspired, for (...) articulate his own position, on mathematics, especially on synthetic geometry. (shrink)

Firstly we consider the new results about enzymatic capabilities in the RNA. In this framework we analyse the sequence-folding duality as a precursor of the genotype/phenotype duality. We discuss then which are the evolutive potentialities and limitations for a system with the absence and the presence of a nucleic acid to proteins translator code. We study the arise of the code in the living systems as a form of deep interlooking between the logic of the machinery and its hardware, discussing (...) some problems that abstract modelization of this process implies. Finaly we propose to redefine the informational vocabulary usually employed in Molecular Biology. (shrink)

We study the appearance of genetic information starting from a system where self-reproductive and enzymatic functions are supported by the same sort of molecules. In a first phase, the information must have arisen in the form of rate independent sequences as records of enzymatic functions. Although this stage must have played an important role in evolution, it will be shown how its evolutive capacities were blocked by the impossibility of appearance of geno/phenotype duality. Finally, a logical scheme is proposed for (...) a transition process toward a system with a code offering a simplification of the conditions required from the assumption of a maximum use of the double RNA capacity, both reproductive and enzymatic. (shrink)

(1991). Life as emergence: The roots of a new paradigm in theoretical biology. World Futures: Vol. 32, Creative Evolution in Nature, Mind, and Society, pp. 133-149.

En este trabajo se muestra la posibilidad de utilizar las Humanidades en la formación de directivos combinando dos ciencias aparentemente diversas. Después de definir las funciones principales de un directivo se identifican dichas funciones en las representaciones artísticas del emperador Carlos V y de su principal virrey en Sicilia. Este análisis de sus capacidades de liderazgo se realiza siguiendo un método conocido en el área de Gestión de Recursos Humanos como Assesment Center que valora a través de las acciones de (...) los evaluados y de testimonios de terceros la calidad de liderazgo. Como resultado comprobaremos que las obras analizadas sirven para ilustrar conceptos relacionados con la dirección de empresas de forma que el Arte se puede utilizar como una herramienta efectiva en la formación de directivos lo que indica su transversalidad a las demás ciencias. (shrink)

Firstly we consider the new results about enzymatic capabilities in the RNA. In this framework we analyse the sequence-folding duality as a precursor of the genotype/phenotype duality. We discuss then which are the evolutive potentialities and limitations for a system with the absence and the presence of a nucleic acid to proteins translator code. We study the arise of the code in the living systems as a form of deep interlooking between the logic of the machinery and its hardware, discussing (...) some problems that abstract modelization of this process implies. Finaly we propose to redefine the informational vocabulary usually employed in Molecular Biology. (shrink)

Two experiments compared “Red-Green” dichromats’ empirical and metacognized capacities to discriminate basic color categories and to use the corresponding basic color terms. A first experiment used a 102-related-colors set for a pointing task to identify all the stimuli that could be named with each BCT by each R-G dichromat type. In a second experiment, a group of R-G dichromats estimated their difficulty discriminating BCCs-BCTs in a verbal task. The strong coincidences between the results derived from the pointing and the verbal (...) tasks indicated that R-G dichromats have very accurate metacognition about their capacities and limitations in the use of BCTs. Multidimensional scaling solutions derived from both tasks were very similar: BCTs in R-G dichromats were properly represented in 2D MDS solutions that clearly show one chromatic dimension and one achromatic dimension. Important concordances were found between protanopes and deuteranopes. None of these dichromats showed substantial difficulty discriminating the Red-Green pair. So, to name them “R-G” dichromats is misleading considering their empirical capacities and their metacognition. Further reasons to propose the use of the alternative denomination “Brown-Green” dichromats are also discussed. We found some relevant differences between the “Brown-Green” dichromats’ empirical and self-reported difficulties using BCTs. Their metacognition can be considered a “caricature” of their practical difficulties. This caricature omits some difficulties including their problems differentiating “white” and “black” from other BCTs, while they overestimate their limitations in differentiating the most difficult pairs. Individual differences scaling analyses indicated that the metacognition regarding the use of BCTs in “Brown-Green” dichromats, especially deuteranopes, is driven slightly more by the chromatic dimension and driven slightly less by the achromatic dimension, than their practical use of BCTs. We discuss the relevance of our results in the framework of the debate between the linguistic relativity hypothesis and the universal evolution theories. (shrink)

Con un amplio espectro de problemáticas organizadas en torno de la naturaleza y contenido de la percepción, Peláez y Cervieri han compilado un libro necesario que cuenta al menos con tres virtudes, dos para lectores especializados y una extra para lectores nuevos. La primera virtud es el carácter significativo de la muestra, a la par de artículos de probada influencia en el ámbito de la filosofía de la mente (como el de Schellenberg y el de Siegel), se agregan artículos (...) novedosos de investigadores consolidados y otros de reciente pero sólida y fructífera trayectoria (tal es el caso de Laura Perez y Miguel Sebastián). Por otra parte, hay artículos que sin abordar directamente la naturaleza de la percepción son clave para la temática del volumen, tal es el caso de la formidable discusión en torno de una teoría naturalista del contenido en el artículo de Hutto y Satne o de la original propuesta de Siegel que analiza el estatus de la inferencia y la estimación. Esto refleja una característica de la disciplina relacionada al borramiento de fronteras con otras ramas linderas a la filosofía de la mente tales como epistemología, filosofía de la acción, filosofía de las ciencias cognitivas o filosofía del lenguaje. Estos cruces provocan una ganancia a la hora de poner en una perspectiva apropiada los problemas filosóficos. (shrink)

Para intentar comprender la visión que Eugenio d'Ors tiene de España a principios de los años 30 del pasado siglo, es necesario entender su biografía. Cuando Eugenio d’Ors deja Barcelona en julio de 1921 solo le faltaban tres meses para cumplir los cuarenta años. A los cuarenta —escribió su hijo Álvaro— lo más normal es que los hombres no cambien ya su caudal de ideas. La originalidad de la época catalana sobre el resto de la producción de d'Ors (...) no significa, sin embargo, un menosprecio de los años posteriores. Fue en gran medida su producción no catalana y su constante actividad y participación en muchos otros proyectos españoles y europeos, lo que hizo que su “gloria catalana” no quedara diluida y que su figura tenga hoy un lugar destacado en las letras españolas. Por todo ello, la exposición está organizada en las tres secciones siguiente: 1) Su biografía catalana; 2) la primera etapa de su biografía castellana, y 3) Su visión de España en los años 30. (shrink)

Although the analogy between macroscopic machines and biological molecular devices plays an important role in the conceptual framework of both neo-mechanistic accounts and nanotechnology, it has recently been claimed that certain complex molecular devices cannot be considered machines since they are subject to physicochemical forces that are different from those of macroscopic machines. However, the structural and physicochemical conditions that allow both macroscopic machines and microscopic devices to work and perform new functions, through a combination of elemental functional parts, have (...) not yet been examined. In order to fill this void, this paper has a threefold aim: first, to clarify the structural and organisational conditions of macroscopic machines and microscopic devices; second, to determine whether the machine-like analogy fits nanoscale devices; and third, to assess whether the machine-like analogy is appropriate for describing the behaviour of some biological macromolecules. Finally, the paper gives an account of ‘machine’ which, while acknowledging the physicochemical and organisational differences between man-made machines and biological microscopic devices, nevertheless identifies a common conceptual core that allows us to consider the latter ‘machines’. (shrink)

In this paper we address the question of minimal cognition by investigating the origin of some crucial cognitive properties from the very basic organisation of biological systems. More specifically, we propose a theoretical model of how a system can distinguish between specific features of its interaction with the environment, which is a fundamental requirement for the emergence of minimal forms of cognition. We argue that the appearance of this capacity is grounded in the molecular domain, and originates from basic mechanisms (...) of biological regulation. In doing so, our aim is to provide a theoretical account that can also work as a possible conceptual bridge between Synthetic Biology and Artificial Intelligence. In fact, we argue, Synthetic Biology can contribute to the study of minimal cognition, by providing a privileged approach to the study of these mechanisms by means of artificial systems. (shrink)

The texts of the Bible treasure a high amount of theatrical potential. Thus, the book of Job constituted the basis of the Theatrum Mundi . Nevertheless, the Jewish and Christian conception of the world and history, despite its tragedies and Passions, is far removed from Greek tragedy. The figure of Job constitutes a contrast to the tragic in King Lear . An exorcistic formula from the Bible appears in Hamlet, Macbeth, and in plays of the Faustian theme –El mágico prodigioso (...) and Marlowe’s and Goethe’s Fausts –, as well as, surprisingly, in Don Quixote and in many other plays where the devil appears on stage. OscarWilde’s Salome finds inspiration in the language of Song of Songs and of apocalyptic prophecies. Rituality and sacredness are common to the Bible and theatre in the quest for representation of the invisible through the visible. (shrink)

Estudos sobre eficácia escolar, bem como o conceito de capital cultural de Pierre Bourdieu, evidenciam que o contexto socioeconômico e cultural – ou o background – exerce papel fundamental nas notas e resultados obtidos pelos estudantes em exames. Ou seja, segundo esta teoria, alunos com menor background tenderiam a apresentar desempenho inferior em comparação com alunos oriundos de um contexto socioeconômico e cultural mais privilegiado. Nesse sentido, considerando que os bolsistas do Programa Universidade para Todos devem possuir desvantagem de background (...) em relação aos seus colegas pagantes, tendencialmente o seu desempenho deveria ser inferior, afinal o programa, criado em 2004, busca viabilizar o acesso à educação superior por meio da concessão de bolsas de estudos integrais ou parciais de 50%, a estudantes com renda familiar per capita de zero a três salários mínimos que cursaram o ensino médio em escolas públicas ou em escolas privadas na condição de bolsistas. Entretanto, percepções subjetivas de docentes indicam que nem sempre é isso que ocorre, ou seja, bolsistas estariam obtendo, em diversas situações, melhores resultados que os colegas pagantes nas disciplinas que cursam em instituições privadas. Nesse contexto, com o objetivo de refletir sobre aspectos fundamentais da qualidade e da equidade do Prouni, o presente artigo problematiza a suposta superioridade de notas dos bolsistas em disciplinas e no Enade e, ao mesmo tempo, analisa hipóteses que explicariam o desempenho além do esperado desses estudantes provenientes de meios populares. Quanto ao desenvolvimento metodológico da pesquisa, são utilizadas duas fontes de dados. A primeira delas é composta por microdados das avaliações de disciplinas de uma universidade comunitária do Rio Grande do Sul entre os anos de 2009 e 2012. A segunda consiste nos dados do Enade referentes ao ano de 2006. Palavras-chave : Capital cultural. Background. Educação superior. Prouni. (shrink)

Book reviews: NOGUEIRA, Paulo Augusto de Souza. Religião e linguagem: abordagens teóricas interdisciplinares. São Paulo: Paulus, 2015. 446 p.. ISBN 978-85-349-4187-7.

Resumen En este artículo se examina el Darwinismo Neural en su explicación de la evolución de la conciencia humana, contrastando su metodología con la utilizada por Richard Lewontin, Richard Levins y Steven Rose, quienes han hecho importantes aportaciones en el estudio de los sistemas vivos desde un punto de vista dialéctico. Concluimos que la explicación interaccionista de la evolución de la conciencia planteada en el DN, supera muchas de las deficiencias del determinismo biológico; sin embargo, al compartir algunos lineamientos con (...) el cartesianismo, mantiene un carácter a-histórico insuficiente para la explicación de la conciencia humana. Finalmente, proponemos la adopción de una teoría explicativa de la conciencia humana que considere las relaciones existentes en ella, no sólo como interacciones sino también como interpenetraciones ontogénicas y filogenéticas.This article examines Neural Darwinism proposed as an explanation of evolution of human consciousness. His methodology is contrasted with that used by Richard Lewontin, Richard Levins, and Steven Rose, who made important contributions to the study of living systems from a dialectical point of view. We conclude that the interactionist explanation of the evolution of conscience put forward in ND overcomes many of the deficiencies proper to biological determinism. However, as ND also shares many of the foundations of the Cartesian approach, it maintains a non-historical character, insufficient for the account of human consciousness. We suggest the adoption of an alternative theory, able to fully explain human conscience which must consider the whole of existing relations in it, and, instead of merely considering them as interactions, they have to be observed as dialectical interpenetrations. (shrink)

Reviewing the last fifty years of interaction between religion and science in Catholicism in Southern Europe, common traits are clearly evident: a late awareness of the importance of this interaction and a theological reluctance to address science or to account for its progress. Early signs of the engagement between religion and science appear as a consequence of the work of the French anthropologist and theologian Teilhard de Chardin. In Italy and Spain in the last fifteen years, we see a substantive (...) growth in the rise of research centers and academic activities devoted to exploring the common ground between science, philosophy, and theology. However, despite all these efforts and the many positive signs, there remains a long way to go for theology to consider science as a true challenge and an inspiration and to integrate it into the theological curriculum. (shrink)

The sporadic nature of Alzheimer's disease argues for an environmental link that may drive AD pathogenesis; however, the triggering factors and the period of their action are unknown. Recent studies in rodents have shown that exposure to lead during brain development predetermined the expression and regulation of the amyloid precursor protein and its amyloidogenic beta-amyloid product in old age. Here, we report that the expression of AD-related genes [APP, BACE1 ] as well as their transcriptional regulator were elevated in aged (...) monkeys exposed to Pb as infants. Furthermore, developmental exposure to Pb altered the levels, characteristics, and intracellular distribution of Abeta staining and amyloid plaques in the frontal association cortex. These latent effects were accompanied by a decrease in DNA methyltransferase activity and higher levels of oxidative damage to DNA, indicating that epigenetic imprinting in early life influenced the expression of AD-related genes and promoted DNA damage and pathogenesis. These data suggest that AD pathogenesis is influenced by early life exposures and argue for both an environmental trigger and a developmental origin of AD. (shrink)